Tuesday, April 9, 2013

How to gain velocity

by Tommy John III
Awesome question Abe, (in response to a twitter question we were asked).  I get asked this a lot as it seems to be on a lot of pitchers' minds.  The truth is, and this is going to be the case with most discussions about things dealing with the body, there is no shortcut and no single area to focus on.  It all works together.  Just like with weight loss its not just calorie counting, it involves hormone balance, feeding times, fasting, sun exposure, sleep, stress etc.  So that being said let's get into the discussion about what lifts you can do to increase velocity.

First of all, it is hard to take advice on lifts and exercises from some giant, broad shouldered pitching coach who threw 98 when he was in high school or on a pro team because in most instances this guy did very little to acquire this ability.  He was born with it. So there is a genetic component to velocity, fast twitch muscle fiber amount is laid down at birth but this can be altered a bit through the correct training.  

Think about how aggressive and fast the movement of the actual throwing phase of pitching is...it is very aggressive, very fast, high amounts of velocity, and a tremendous amount of effort needed from the pitcher.  So...what I want you to realize is that if you wish to throw with velocity, you must train at an equal emotional level.  In my opinion that is the problem with today's athletes.  Everyone's training is always slow, gentle, delayed, and it in no way mimics the movement velocitys necessary in order to throw a 90 mph baseball.  And then they expect a different result when they compete.  What you need to realize is that training for your sport means you are teaching your body about joint position, muscle length, force absorption and velocity.  You are constantly learning, constantly bringing in information on what adjustments need to be made in order to adapt.  So we need training to become very close to the effort needed to pitch a fastball as fast as possible.  Now this comment needs to be understood more.  I'm not telling someone to go into a training system without training at all and just start moving at fastball velocitys.  But, once the movement in the lift is learned, then yes, the effort is always maximal with no negotiations.  And that is how one needs to train if one wants to get faster in any respect...pitching, running, jumping etc.

Now that HOW to train has been addressed and let me say this and let this sink in....it is always HOW you train that will create the most adaptation, not WHAT lifts you do.  And that is just fact, across cultures, disciplines, sports etc.  How will always trump what.  But let's talk a little about the what in training. In my opinion, in order to generate velocity, it is the brains job to move the hand as fast as possible.  But the hand is connected to the ground through the body.  And this is the reason there is no secret lift or lifts to increase velocity in pitching.  So let's start from the ground up.  Your feet must first be very very strong in order for anything else above them to get stronger.  I would suggest training in bare feet or in flat soled shoes like Chuck Taylors, Puma sprint shoes.  Your feet will be sore at first but keep going and the 4 layers of muscles in your feet will get stronger and  adaptation will take place.  The main area an athlete should focus on in my opinion are the glutes and hamstrings.  In over 10 years of training athletes and the general public it amazes me how weak peoples hamstrings and glutes are.  Even swinging a bat can be improved in regards to velocity of bat speed simply by strengthening the hamstrings and glutes.  Good exercises for these areas are squats, lunges, glute ham machine work, RDL's, dead lifts  and split squats.  But keep in mind what I talked about with effort.  And always use free weights when training.  Your nervous system has got to make more adjustments and corrections throughout every inch of the lift.  Avoid machines whenever you can.  Core strength is the next area on our way up from the ground to the hand.  I know everyone focuses on core and most programs are a joke.  There is too much focus on the abdominals and very little on the back.  I would say do 3 back exercises for every 1 abdominal one.  In 10 years of treating injuries in sports I have never seen an injury caused from weak abdominals.  The abdominals main job or function is to breathe.  I have not done a crunch in over 8 years and I do not have back problems, I play gold whenever i wish with power, and all I do are breathing exercises.  So this is just one example of how the core of your body is trained beyond simple abdominal exercises.   You must keep all 3 sides of your deltoid or shoulders as strong as possible.  Everyone focuses on the rotator cuff and this is an important area but it all coincides with the function of the deltoid as well.  When my father, Tommy John, was coming back from Tommy John surgery in 1974 he did 1500 shoulder moves daily, and his injury was not in his shoulder.  He also never missed a start because of arm problems after that point.  Something to think about.  Lastly, just as important your feet are to velocity, your hands are equally important.  Never ever ever wear gloves when you train.  There are over 4000 nerve endings in the palm of the hands so you want to stimulate these areas when you train.  Plus you are teaching your brain about feel, using your fingertips when you train.  And it is the tips of the fingers that you need utmost control over in order to release a baseball properly at a specific velocity.  When it comes to forearms, the weaknesses come into the extensor side of the forearm or the muscles you use to open your hand.  You must strengthen these with intense focus.  Don't worry so much about the muscles that close your hand, or your flexors.  You will work those with your daily activities.  

I hope this helps.  Find the exercises on your own and apply the methods discussed in this.  There are a ton of programs out there and they all hold great capability, but it's the HOW that separates one athlete from another.  Some things to avoid that take away from a pitcher becoming the best he/she can be: extended periods of static stretching.  Yep. It is possible to over stretch a joint which is occurring out there and there are way too many injuries out there stemming from this cause alone.  Also, cut down the amounts of distance running you do.  This activity will create a weaker athlete.  It messes with hormones needed to build muscle and truly recover, it weakens your heart and lungs.  Now, before you cut out running altogether, I didn't say to avoid sprints or jumps.  And these activities again are more relational to the speeds needed to throw a baseball at top velocity.  

Good luck to you.  Get your spine checked by a chiropractor before doing anything, always keep the prepared body at a higher level of function than the skill body, and eat foods that rot. 

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